AA restaurant and a bistro. The latter is moderately priced and has an interestingly varied clientele.

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Ålesund is full of restaurants, and you can generally find anything for whatever taste you might have.

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For cheap food, the town has quite a few pizza, kebab and burger shops. Next to the town square you will find Dolly Dimples pizza, a few meters away you will find Peppes Pizza and the local McDonalds restaurant, as well as a 7-eleven that is open 24/7 and sell hot food. You can usually get food for around NOK 100 in these restaurants.

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For more regular restaurants, you have choices such as Hummer og Kanari (Kongens gate) and XL Diner (Skateflukaia). XL Diner is the largest clipfish/bacalao restaurant in Northern Europe. Expect to pay a minimum of NOK 300.

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More upmarket restaurants include Sjøbua, a somewhat famous seafood restaurant, where all food is prepared from the local fishermen's catch of the day. The fish is kept in tanks in the restaurant for maximum freshness.

+

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In general, if you're out in Ålesund, you should make sure to try the local seafood dishes. It is the centre of fish exports in Norway and has a unique tradition is seafood cuisine. Clip fish is a local speciality, and a dish that locally is known simply as "bacalao" is a favourite not easily found in other parts of the world.

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Do note that wine is usually quite expensive in Norwegian restaurants, charging 300 NOK or more for a bottle of wine is not uncommon.

==Drink==

==Drink==

Revision as of 22:54, 20 June 2010

Ålesund[1] is the largest city in Møre og Romsdal, Western Norway, with about 40.000 inhabitants (between 60.000-80.000 in the surrounding area).

Understand

Ålesund is built on a row of islands extending towards the Atlantic. The compact old city centre is thus surrounded by water and Ålesund is a major fisheries harbour.

The old city centre of Ålesund was destroyed by fire in the first years of the 20th century. Much international aid, including personal gifts from Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany who used to holiday there, helped to rebuild in the most modern style, Art Nouveau.

From the city there is a beautiful view of the Sunnmøre Alps in the East.

Get in

By plane

By rail

The local railway station is situated in Åndalsnes. The train line was supposed to continue to Ålesund city center but was never completed. There is a replacement bus service operating between Ålesund and Åndalsnes for every arrival and departure.

Trains go to Dombås and back three times a day, connecting with the main service from Trondheim to Oslo.
In addition, a once-a-day service to Lillehammer operates, connecting with local trains to Oslo.

You can also change at Dombås for services from or to Trondheim, but this usually involves a considerable wait at Dombås. However, Dombås town center is very close to the station and has moderately priced restaurants and convenience shops as well as some tourist attractions on its own.

By boat

By car

Ålesund is at the end of the E136 main route, which starts at Dombås where it connects with the E6 main route between Oslo and Trondheim.

It is also on the E39 coastal main route between Bergen and Trondheim. Note that this route does involve taking quite a few ferries in either direction which makes it take as long to Trondheim as the ferry-less E136/E6 combo but more expensive.

Get around

If living in the city centre, most attractions are available within a short-medium walk (less than 20 minutes).

For the Atlantic Sea Park, there are special bus services from the city centre bus terminal.

In general there are plenty of bus services in Ålesund. It is worth noting, however, that they are very limited in the late evenings, after 5pm on Saturdays and all day Sundays. To get information about local buses, call 177.

There are two taxi companies operating, and taxis can be booked by telephone at 7012 or 70103000. Taxis in Norway are very expensive, expect to pay at least 200 NOK for even a short trip. They are also more expensive in the evenings and weekends.

See

Much of the joy of seeing Ålesund is to be found in just strolling past the many art nouveau shops and other buildings.

Do

Learn

Buy

Eat

Ålesund is full of restaurants, and you can generally find anything for whatever taste you might have.

For cheap food, the town has quite a few pizza, kebab and burger shops. Next to the town square you will find Dolly Dimples pizza, a few meters away you will find Peppes Pizza and the local McDonalds restaurant, as well as a 7-eleven that is open 24/7 and sell hot food. You can usually get food for around NOK 100 in these restaurants.

For more regular restaurants, you have choices such as Hummer og Kanari (Kongens gate) and XL Diner (Skateflukaia). XL Diner is the largest clipfish/bacalao restaurant in Northern Europe. Expect to pay a minimum of NOK 300.

More upmarket restaurants include Sjøbua, a somewhat famous seafood restaurant, where all food is prepared from the local fishermen's catch of the day. The fish is kept in tanks in the restaurant for maximum freshness.

In general, if you're out in Ålesund, you should make sure to try the local seafood dishes. It is the centre of fish exports in Norway and has a unique tradition is seafood cuisine. Clip fish is a local speciality, and a dish that locally is known simply as "bacalao" is a favourite not easily found in other parts of the world.

Do note that wine is usually quite expensive in Norwegian restaurants, charging 300 NOK or more for a bottle of wine is not uncommon.

Drink

There are lots of places to go drinking in Ålesund. However, the price level is quite high, expect to pay 80-90 NOK for a pint of beer. This price level has resulted in a youth culture where people gather at someone's home first to drink and usually don't go out before midnight.

Most establishments are open, but the more youth oriented ones are usually close to empty before midnight. If you're a visitor out for some youthful partying, it might therefore be advisable to go somewhere else for a few pints first and then go out looking for where the action is after midnight.

All establishments close at 3 am by Norwegian law. This usually leads to complete chaos (as most people stay until then) and people standing around for hours in taxi queues. If you need transportation, it is therefore advisable to call the taxi company no later than 2 am. If you live in the city centre, it might be advisable to plan on leaving a little earlier as well, just to avoid drunk people in the streets.

If you want to buy alcohol from a shop, beer can be gotten in normal supermarkets until 8pm (6pm Saturdays) for 25 NOK for a 1/2 litre can. Anything stronger than 4.7% can only be got from state authorised Vinmonopolet (until 6pm weekdays, 3pm Saturdays), located in Kremmergaarden in the centre, as well as the Moa shopping centre in the suburbs. Note that supermarkets are not allowed to sell any alcohol after these hours, even if they are still open. Also, alcohol is not allowed to be sold in shops during Christian holidays such as Easter or Christmas.